Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Last week, I only had a blurry picture. So let me post these 3 better ones of this little jewel. The walls are extra thin and the teapot weighs like nothing in your hand. Teaparker used it to prepare all the Wu Yi Yan Cha he brought back from Fujian 10 days ago.

These pictures also come as a good reminder of an important step in a successful gongfu cha: the warmup of the teapot and the tea cups. The leaves enter the teapot after the preheating.At the base, on the left of the teapot, you may notice that the color is lighter: some sea salt is still coming out from the pores of this previously wrecked teapot.

Compared to yesterday's post on tea trays made of stone, the display here is quite simple. A square pottery base for the teapot: the inside is empty and lets the waste water flow inside. Next to it, a quilt absorbs the water that drips when filling the cups. The result is a fitting elevated position for the teapot and the leaves. The quilt gives a warmer feeling and doesn't feel like a massive barrier between the brewer and the guests.

Sunday, November 26, 2006

These 2 big bags of tea show the WenShan teas I have purchased 2 days ago in Pinglin. The bag on the right contains 48 bags of 'lily flower' Baozhong, a very good, decently priced, low oxidized Fall Baozhong. The other bag contains a mix of top quality, very fresh Baozhongs, a 'Monkey Hair' Oriental Beauty and some Fo Shou Oolong. All in all, 18.6 kg!

Driving home, I felt a great sense of satisfaction and excitment. The day had gone very well. It almost felt like graduation or the completion of the last, tough level in the 'Lord of the Rings' video game.

I've already told the story in French, but have been asked for a translation. I think you may also learn something from it, and so let me also tell you how I 'graduated'.

My first 'task' was to select my light oxidized 'lily flower' Baozhong between these 2 Baozhongs (end of September harvest):I chose the one on the left, because the fragrance was nicer and more persistant. Also, the leaves had a lighter color, better fitting the light oxidation. The farmer agreed this was the better choice. (For reference, we used 4 grams for 5 minutes brewing).

In the second 'task', I had to select my first quality stronger oxidized 'Subtropical Forest' Baozhong (November harvest). Again, I had 2 Baozhongs to select from. Here, the difference was much more clearcut. The one on the left was not oxidized enough for what I'm searching. Also, despite costing twice as much as the 'lily flower' I had selected, it was just maybe 25% better.The glass on the right is actually from the same field as the Spring version. But this time, this harvest is going to participate in an upcoming tea competition. Usually, this harvest would not be for sale until after the competition. Should it win a prize, it could be sold for a higher price. I insisted on having from this one, because the length and the traditional taste of fresh Baozhong were there. Also, typical for the winter harvest, the aftertaste turned from a short sour note to a sweet one. This aftertaste was also longer than for the Spring version (Spring is usually more fragrant). The farmer then agreed to sell me from this lot at the regular price and not wait for the competition to take place. I felt lucky in my timing and happy to buy this very good tea.

While the farmer left his house to go and bring back more tea, I tried some of his most expensive Oriental Beauty: Mao Ho (Monkey Hair) from Summer 2005. The leaves are bigger than usual. He later told me that this is Oriental Beauty is made with another, more ancient tea varietal than what is commonly used now (luanze oolong and qingxin DaPa). It showed promise and I will further compare it at home with 2 other Oriental Beauties (stay tuned!) On this level, it felt like discovering a hidden treasure behind the counter (to continue the video game analogy.)

When the farmer came back, I used a first 'magic spell': I proposed to share some of the Wu Yi Yan Cha I had received from Teaparker last Sunday. He chose the Bai Ji Guan and was immediately impressed by the strong fragrance coming out of my tea box (the zip of the tea bag was still closed). It had been a while since he hadn't drunk Bai Ji Guan and was very happy with this tea cup. He also quickly filled a cup for his wife (a loving huband shares only the good stuff!) The magic performed wonderfully well: the tea farmer was moved and decided to share with me in return his 2nd place Baozhong at the last tea competition. Hummmm. A very fine and pure low oxidized Baozhong. He then asked me to brew the second Yan Cha I had with me: the 2003 Rou Guei. This time he was practically dancing! "Excellent roasting! Wharf! That's a good tea!" he said with a voice refilled with energy. His wife got here cup filled too and agreed.This time he proposed to brew a semi-wild Baozhong from this November too. This one comes from a plantation that is left wild, without fertilizer or pesticides. Such leaves grow bigger and are sometimes bitten by insects. The result is a more oxidized, very concentrated and fragrant Baozhong (close to the 'subtropical forest'). It has a typical 'wild' note in terms of smell. But, most importantly, like all wild teas (for instance puerh), the taste is fuller in the mouth (on the top of the mouth).

And the best of all, is that this farmer let me purchase these 2 teas! The excellent Yan Cha teas have given me access to the treasure trove! (These 2 Baozhongs -2nd place and semi-wild Baozhong- are expensive, though, and so I reduce the quantity to 75 gr for the same price as 150 gr of top quality Subtropical Forest Baozhong.)

Sharing excellent tea with somebody who loves and understands tea is always an interesting experience. Showing your understanding of tea is also important to gain the respect of your supplier. Friday, I was able to combine both and it made me feel very happy all evening long.

Teaparker often told us that it's not with money that you get the best tea from a Chinese or Taiwanese tea farmer. My experience is a good illustration.

Zhutong is the Chinese name for puerh that is kept in bamboo leaves. This one is cooked and of the highest quality I have found so far: only small buds that are quite easy to flake. Besides, the year is 1984, which means that this cooked puerh had time to rest after fermentation (cooked puerh doesn't have as much potential to improve as raw puerh, but it also benefits from aging to shed some of the bad smells that happen during manual fermentation).

Here is a look at the other faces of 1 of those 10 gram 'coin' included in this bamboo leaf (20 'coins' in total). This side looks like a coin with a 'valley' in the middle. The small buds are also easy to see on both sides. The light color indicates a lighter fermentation.

Below, I've brewed 1/3 of a coin in a 10cl gaiwan a first time for 5 minutes after a short wash. The color was so dark, I had to use the spoon to see the transparency and color of the brew! Excellent! This level of transparency and appealing color are good hints for a very good tea.

The nose doesn't distinguish itself by unordinary fragrances. It's typical cooked puerh. A little grassy, a little earthy. Even the mouthfeel was not very strong and longlasting like my wild cooked Tuo Cha or my wild raw puerhs. But what I found special with this puerh is its purity and its finesse. Each brew comes out differently depending how you brew it (long with few leaves, short with lots of leaves, first or third or fifth brew...) but you always got like a single, clear and sweet note.

Here are the buds after the first 5 minutes brew:A good way to enjoy the easy brewing of this puerh is to use just 2 grams for 10cl and to brew almost at will (less than 5 minutes for the first 3 brews and more than 5 after).

I also brewed it in my new duanni clay I Li Zhu teapot for cooked pu-erh. The result was a fuller mouthfeel, but less precision at the edges. For most cooked puerhs with rough edges, this would be an improvement, but because of the finesse of this one, I felt that the better mouthfeel came at the expense of its purity. A plus for a minus. Therefore, I think it would even make sense to brew it in a harder clay teapot.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

The other day, Teaparker used this 18th Century Zhuni teapot recovered from a shipwreck (traces of salt are still coming out of the clay - sorry for the low quality of the picture). He used it to brew the different oolongs he brought from Fujian and Wu Yi in particular. One of my best tea class. I'm so glad I could make it that day.

At the end of the class, a friend/acquaintance of Teaparker came by and brought at least half a dozen 'old' Yixing teapots he had on loan from a teapot seller. He wished to have Teaparker's opinion about them. This is an area that I haven't dared to 'touch', yet, because it's so risky and prices can be so high. You could quickly loose your head and spend the kids' tuition fund on a couple of such pieces. Just the one Teaparker used is so light, the lines so fine...

Nevertheless, I thought it useful to listen in to what he had to say. Maybe I can use this information one day (hope is what gets us all going!) And maybe it can help some of you to avoid making a big mistake.

Let's first remember not to pay any attention to the amount of dirt on the teapot. This is easily faked by plunging new teapots in a bathtub filled with water, earth and metal (or if left in water with lots of decaying, humid tea leaves). Like for tea, we don't look at the outside layer (wrappers), but look at the intrinsic value, here the craftsmanship of the teapot. The 3 places to look at are:

1. The handle. It should be a little thinner on top than below. (That's something that I found difficult to see by myself)2. The knob (the little ball) on top of the lid has a size and shape that's in harmony with the rest of the teapot. The elegance of a teapot can be broken if the proper balance is not there. (I feel this is quite obvious in the examples below)3. The spout should have some beautiful curves. Like a beautiful woman is well curved, so must be the spout to be a classic antique. The curves were rarely just one, but often several (see bottom left).

These pictures come from this book from the 'China Tea Museum' from the Mainland. It's all in Chinese, but I still recommend it for its wonderful pictures. (Since I don't own the rights for the pictures, let me advertise it!) The ISBN is 7 - 5340 - 0995 - 2/J.854.

Teaparker didn't openly tell him if a teapot is antique or not. He just told him how to look at the teapots. I guess he doesn't want to get into trouble with the seller. To avoid this, he tried to get this person to find out by himself if it was fake or real. (That's how I would feel too, so don't send me any pictures.) However, as that person was taking a break and stepped outside the room, Teaparker shook his head to tell us that none of these were real.

Like with tea, you are the best judge to know what you like or not. Just don't let yourself blind by a date.

Monday, November 20, 2006

Taiwan did have some wild tea trees growing naturally on its soil, but it didn't use those to start its tea production in the 19th Century. Instead, it imported tea tree plants from Fujian. From MinNan (south of Fujian) came the Tie Guan Yin varietal as well as the method of rolling the Oolong in a ball like shape. And from MinBei (north of Fujian) came the tree that gave birth to Luanze (Qingxin) Oolong and its subsequent variations (Qingxin DaPa, Si Ji Chun, Tsui Yu, Jinxuan...). Taiwanese tea researchers have now exactly identified the origin of Taiwan's main tea varietals. Contrary to common knowledge, they don't come from Wu Yi Mountain itself, but from a place 2 hours drive away.

The tea varietal is called Ai Jiao (meaning 'little foot') Oolong. Actually, Teaparker (updated link) has pictures that show that the trees are not that small: they reach until one's neck. These trees are growing at low altitude and there are not many left of them. Why? For farmers, this varietal is not producing many leaves (the same drawback luanze oolong has vs Jinxuan). But the most interesting feature of this tree is that it grows in shallow water of a river.

From the leaves, you can see that it has been roasted quite heavily, like traditional Oolong. The first brew tastes very different from Taiwanese Oolong. The moisture and dampness of the river are the main fragrance and give its special sticky and full mouthfeel. A very long one. The second brew and the smell of the wet hot leaves, however, are very much tasting and smelling like a classic 'Dong Ding Oolong'.

Here we had our confirmation that Ai Jiao Oolong is the mother of all Taiwanese Oolong varietals!This last picture is not Ai Jiao Oolong (I forgot to take the picture). These dry leaves are roasted WenShan Baozhong leaves from my selection. However, Ai Jiao Oolong looks very much like this.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

I've been using a bamboo tray for 3 or 4 years now. It's 25 x 16 x 6 cm for 500 gram net weight. I find it a very practical tool for everyday gongfu cha. Its functions are:- Water container: The water that gets spilled drips below through the openings and keeps your teapot and cups relatively dry. - Tray: it's small, light (500 gram) and easy to carry with you after you've prepared your tea where the hot water is and you want to drink it somewhere else.- Silence: The bamboo wood absorbs the sounds of the porcelain cups and clay teapots when you put them back on the tray. This helps create a peaceful atmosphere. (A porcelain or metallic tray/table is much more noisy).- Decoration: When you don't use it, the simple design of this bamboo tray can become a decorative enhancement to display your teapot and cups.

In the following picture, you can see the effect of time and use on my old tray (below) and compare it with a new tray (above). The constant soaking of tea has made the bamboo look darker. The quality is very good and I still haven't noticed any cracks or leaks. The fact that it's made in Taiwan is usually a good sign of quality (as consumers here are more affluent and demanding than on the Mainland). The best way to maintain it is to use it often, which I do! Bamboo loves water because it needs moisture. A mistake would be to put it under direct sunshine (unless you're using it!).

Thursday, November 02, 2006

This one just came in today. A tea quilt my mother made with fabric she bought during her last visit to see me in Taipei. The main side is black and the other side is plain black. (The picture shows a round stain, but it's just my camera lens that needs cleaning!) Here you see how it looks with my zhuni Xishi teapot, Qing cups and other accessories. Thank you maman for this beautiful gift. I love it!

If you look closely, you will see 2 dark green objects. One with the loose puerh leaves, one under the wooden stick. Let's look closer! This is my second new accessory. It is more widely available here: Chinese lions made of Jade from Burma. There's a hole between their front feet so that they can also be worn as necklaces. But I find they add a nice touch of color and strength to the whole set. These animals are like companions sharing a sip of refreshing tea. And maybe will I too roar like I lion after my gongfu cha with them.Anyway, they are nice little stones that make my set not only more Chinese, but also more personal.